June 2020 – CU-CitizenAccess.org

Champaign Park District revenue declines

Post author:Claire O'Brien / For CU-CitizenAccess
Post published:June 29, 2020
Post category:Public Funds

The Champaign Park District, facing at least $1.8 million in lost revenue, is set to meet July 22 to discuss its budget for the upcoming year. Part of the budget, which includes grants and the park district recently applied for a Rebuild Illinois grant. It is also in the process of applying for an Illinois Emergency Management Agency grant, but Wallace said in a phone interview Thursday that the grant has shifted to being administered federally and so the grant is more limited in scope.

Area hospitals receive millions of dollars in Covid-19 emergency funding

Post author:Samantha Boyle / For CU-CitizenAccess
Post published:June 24, 2020
Post category:CU-Covid19 Health Care

Carle Foundation Hospital has received nearly $18.8 million this month in grant money under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security or CARES Act, according to COVID Stimulus Watch. Meanwhile, Christie Clinic received about $2.4 million in grant money. These grants were awarded through the department’s Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund on June 11, according to COVID Stimulus Watch, which is a service of Good Jobs First, which collects data of financial assistance from federal, state and local government programs. COVID Stimulus Watch, specifically collects and publishes data from CARES Act recipients.

Read more about the article Campus crime decreased after coronavirus, but crime statistics remain varied and ‘confusing’

University of Illinois Blog

The University of Illinois Police Department operates from the Public Safety Building, 1110 W. Springfield Ave., Urbana.

Campus crime decreased after coronavirus, but crime statistics remain varied and ‘confusing’

Post author:Dylan Tiger
Post published:June 24, 2020
Post category:CU-Covid19 Justice

Before University of Illinois students were sent home in mid-March, there were at least 183 crimes in Champaign-Urbana reported directly to university police — mostly underage drinking and theft. After March 21, the total number of crimes reported decreased, with 52 crimes directly reported to university police as of May 31 according to the daily crime log.

Read more about the article Formerly incarcerated man dedicates life to anti-violence work

Jobie Taylor

Jobie Taylor (left) and Patricia Avery (right).

Formerly incarcerated man dedicates life to anti-violence work

Post author:Marissa Plescia / For CU-CitizenAccess
Post published:June 24, 2020
Post category:Community Voices

At the age of 17, Jobie Taylor was just about to graduate high school when he was convicted of first degree murder in the south side of Chicago. Given a sentence of 40 years, of which he served 20, for a crime he claims he didn’t commit, Taylor is now 44 years old and dedicates his life to changing the exact culture he grew up in. He works with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Education Justice Project, a program that provides higher education at Danville Correctional Center. He’s now a case manager at the Housing Authority in Champaign, where he works with at-risk youth to get their GEDs and find jobs.

Profile photo of The Original Pancake House on Springfield Avenue in Champaign. Credit: Original Pancake House Facebook photo uploaded 2016.

Coronavirus case temporarily shuts down Champaign restaurant

Post author:Samantha Boyle / For CU-CitizenAccess
Post published:June 23, 2020
Post category:CU-Covid19

The positive test for Covid-19 for an employee at The Original Pancake House, located on Springfield Avenue, has led to the closing of the restaurant by management.

r/UIUC

The logo for r/UIUC on Reddit.com. From the community wiki page.

Trending on Reddit: r/UIUC discusses protests, reopening campus

Post author:Daria Makhneva / For CU-CitizenAccess
Post published:June 22, 2020
Post category:Blog CU-Covid19

For the last two weeks, members of the r/UIUC subreddit actively discussed two main topics: reopening campus in the fall and peaceful protests and looting in Champaign-Urbana. Posters, often students, staff, alumni and community members, critique the university for the quality of the online education they get paying the same amount of money they did for the in-person classes. Overall, r/UIUC subreddit members are worried about what they should expect next semester.

This illustration, created at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reveals ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses. Note the spikes that adorn the outer surface of the virus, which impart the look of a corona surrounding the virion, when viewed electron microscopically. A novel coronavirus, named Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), was identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China in 2019. The illness caused by this virus has been named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Champaign opens up small business portal

Post author:Claire O'Brien / For CU-CitizenAccess
Post published:June 19, 2020
Post category:CU-Covid19 Public Funds

The City of Champaign announced in an email that it is offering grants of up to $15,000 for small business owners. The email comes in the wake of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s announcement June 17 that the state of Illinois will provide grants for small businesses under the new Business Interruption Grant program. Illinois’ program provides $60 million of funding to small businesses, including allocations of $20 million to bars and restaurants who can’t have outdoor seating, $10 million to barber shops and salons, and another $10 million is allocated to gyms and fitness centers.

Meat and shopping: One more impact of the coronavirus on ordinary life

Post author:Joey Birrittier / Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting
Post published:June 19, 2020
Post category:CU-Covid19 Public Health

It began in mid-March when the new coronavirus became part of ordinary American life with shortages of household products like hand sanitizer, toilet paper and paper towels. Now, as May has turned to June, scarcity – and the fear of it -- is all about the meat. As of June 6, there have been at least 20,400 reported positive cases tied to meatpacking facilities in at least 216 plants in 33 states, and at least 74 reported worker deaths, according to a Midwest Center analysis.

Small Business Administration opens disaster relief portal

Post author:Claire O'Brien / For CU-CitizenAccess
Post published:June 18, 2020
Post category:Public Funds

The Small Business Administration has re-opened its Disaster Relief portal for small businesses in Illinois. In the June 16 email, the Illinois branch added that Illinois small businesses can apply for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan advance in addition to loans. The email stipulated that advances won’t need to be repaid and that a business may get an advance even if it isn’t able to get a loan.

Urbana Park District

Ambucs Park at 1140 University Ave. in Urbana, Illinois.

Urbana Park District board seeks to improve diversity on advisory board

Post author:Claire O'Brien / For CU-CitizenAccess
Post published:June 18, 2020
Post category:Government

In an effort to increase the diversity of its advisory committee, the Urbana Park District Board is focusing its recruitment efforts on areas north of University Avenue as well as other areas north of Interstate 74. The Urbana Park District Advisory Committee currently has five vacancies.